Alfred Stevens

Mme Edouard Jacquet, Brussels (acquired by 1907)

Gasquet Collection (acquired by 1930)

Private Collection (Madame X)

Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1 May 1940, lot 7 (consigned by the estate of the above)

Private Collection (acquired from the above by the present owner)

Private Collection, Belgium (acquired by descent from the above)

Dorotheum, Vienna, 6 August 2020, lot 518 (consigned by the above)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Bruxelles-Anvers, L'œuvre de Alfred Stevens, 1907, no. 14 (lent by Madame Edouard Gasquet, Brussels)

Forli, Museo Civico San Domenico, L’art della moda: L’eta dei sogni e delle rivoluzioni, 1789-1968, 2023, no. V.8

Alfred Stevens, Tableaux dont je me souviens, 1889, no. 161

Paul Lambotte, “Etude illustrée sur l‘oeuvre du Maître”, l’Art Flamand et Hollondais, vol. 7, no. IV, April 1907

Paul Lambotte, L’oeuvre de Alfred Stevens, exh. cat., Brussels 1907, pp. 17-18, illustrated (as La boule argentée)

François Boucher, Alfred Stevens, Paris 1930, no. 44, illustrated

Gustave Van Zype, Les frères Stevens, Brussels 1936, no. 158

Cristina Acidini Luchinat and Gianfranco Brunelli (eds.), L’art della moda: L’eta dei sogni e delle rivoluzioni, 1789-1968, exh. cat., 2023, p. 225

Stevens was a connoisseur of objects and an eclectic collector, filling his studio with props, fabrics, trophies, furniture, and souvenirs of all types, even borrowing dresses from such exclusive fashion houses as the famed Maison Paquin for his models. While standing in front of Stevens' painting La Psyché, Robert de Montesquiou exclaimed, "it is an apotheosis of Stevens' art and all of his loves: women, objects, and the reflections that multiply them" (Lefebvre, p. 89).

Stevens combined all of his loves in La Femme à la boule, which reflects elegance in its shining surface. Intended to capture all the features of a garden into one view including the flowers, trees, lawn, and house into one enchanting view, these metallic globes were also reputed to bring visitors luck, fortune, and happiness. The use of globes, mirrors, and glass allowed him to maximize the scene, to project what might lie behind the viewer (in this case, the artist's home), and to demonstrate his ability to paint the complicated reflection on its surface.

Stevens painted La Femme à la boule in the flower garden of his newly acquired Paris residence at 65 rue des Martyrs, which was frequented by Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, both escaping the congested streets of the city to paint there. Stevens' admiration for Manet's vibrant flowers and plush natural landscapes appears in the sumptuous foliage, roses and the geraniums that fill the garden in the present work.